My biggest boy

Last night Mark was gone and we were having one of our weird empty nester dinners.  We were just pulling random stuff out of the fridge.  

Braeden came over to use the garage for some car maintenance.  

I pushed the last of Mark's chocolate cake on him.  He happily complied, ate it right off the cake plate.  I poured him a glass of milk.

I offered him a toasted cranberry English muffin with cream cheese.  He took two.

I offered him pea pods.  He said no thanks.

Adam offered him fish sticks that he was just pulling out of the air fryer.  Braeden had half of one.  He explained, "I've already had dinner."

I'll never get tired of feeding my kids.  They can come over any time.  

I told Braeden about the conversation I'd had at school.  Yesterday, my literacy students were asking me about my children.  They said, "You have an 18 year old?!?" (I told them that my 18 year old hated The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza which I was reading to them.)  I told them I had older kids too.

"Do they all live in your home?"

I said only the 18 year old.  "The other two are in college."

One boy said, wide eyed, "I'm not going to college.  I don't need people yelling at me all day."

I told them that was not what college was like.  I told them I liked college.  I told them no one yelled at me in college.

I said, "That's how I got to be a teacher, by going to college."

They all just looked at me in sort of wonder.  It occurred to me that they maybe didn't know anyone who had gone to college.  Anyone besides me.  This felt like the first conversation about college they'd had.

I don't know.

But I hugged my college boy extra tight.  He told me about his grad school applications.  He showed us a clip from Jimmy Kimmel.  He talked to his dad about obscure political things.  They don't talk about the things you get from the headlines.  They delve deeper.

For the millionth time in my life I felt grateful for opportunities that were handed to me so I can in turn hand them to my children.  I'm grateful for plenty of food.  Even if we eat it in weird combinations sometimes, we have enough.